First off, a hearty congratulations are in order as we want to wish Lucius a very happy record release day! The band's sophomore album, Good Grief, is out TODAY. So you know...run, don't walk to give it a spin. BUT wait...actually, before you do all that running, have a look at our newest Baeble NEXT session with the band.

Lucius recently hopped the BQE south to share four inventive, stylish, and seriously savvy cuts from Good Grief. It's an album title that represents the material on multiple levels. There is that thing that reminds of Charlie Brown's exasperated sighs. "Goooooood Grief!" With the band spending the last two and a half years on the road in support of their equally amazing debut Wildewoman, you can bet such a commitment to the road threw all of the creature comforts they had previously known completely out of whack. Because it's hard to live out of a suitcase...it takes a serious toll, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

"Being on the road for two and half years in itself will do a lot to your psyche and your development as a human being," singer Jess Wolfe explained. "The amount of places that we saw...just so much intake is bound to affect your writing." So the band kept voice memos and wrote in their journals as they zipped around the globe. They thought it was important to keep tabs on things so they wouldn't forget any of the important moments. Jess soon realized that, "a lot of times when you're having difficulty you just have a lot more to say about it."

That weariness is at the heart of a song like "Dusty Trails", which the band absolutely slayed in our session. Look no further than the opening lines. "We've been gone for such a long time that I'm almost afraid to go home/A long road is a long dragged out imagination where things can go wrong/But we keep rolling on."

It's that keep rolling on part that's the other side of the coin when it comes to the title of their new album. There is acceptance in the difficulty that lay ahead...a feeling that, while things are tough, the experiences also offer the opportunity for tremendous growth. "It afforded us so many opportunities to get in front of so many people and those crowds grew and we are so incredibly fortunate for that," Jess told us.

When the band actually sat down to start working through the source material for Good Grief, they started to take stock of what they really had. "It was heavy material," laughed co-vocalist Holly Laessig during our conversation. "When we sat down to get into it, we thought...should we just start with something light? An appetizer or something?" As it turns out, that aperitif ended up being "Born Again Teen"; a song that feels like the blast of a confetti cannon, and their insanely joyous, first single.

While playing through both songs, as well as "Madness" and "What We Have (to Change)" in our session, it's obvious that Jess and Holly remove themselves from whatever moment they occupy when they sing. They have that unique ability to swan dive ever so gracefully into the vocal complexities, emotions, and various colors of their songs. To be honest, we've never encountered anything like the two voices that filled our workspace.

It's something Lucius hope translates to their audience as well. "Growing up we both were looking to escape in a certain way...trying to figure out what it was we wanted to be and not exactly fitting in," Jess told us. "Coming to a show definitely enables [a similar] experience for other people. It's fun and energetic and we're hopefully transporting people along with us."

Good news guys. Our newest Baeble NEXT Session with Lucius is your ticket to ride.

Transcript

- Being on the road for two and a half years, in itself will do a lot to your psyche and your development as a human being and the amount of places that we saw and the...it's just so much intake is bound to affect your writing. And I think afforded us so many opportunities to get in front of so many people and it was crowd grew and we're so incredibly fortunate for that. But it does add a certain type of pressure. As we were touring, we were keeping voice memos and writing in our journals and trying to build, well, trying to remember what we were experiencing so we wouldn't forget but also keeping tabs on important moments, the good and the bad ones. It ended up that a lot of times when you're having difficulty, there's just a lot more to say about it. Like Jess was saying when we got back from tour we had a collection of all these lyrics and voice memos and things and it was heavy material and when we sat down to kind of get into it, it was like, "Can we just start with something light?" And appetizer or something? So we did Born Again Teen, that was our first single and that's what we're leading the record with. We had a lot of fun doing it live too. It's a feeling like a born again teen Got a heartbeat like we're only sixteen Would you take my hand, baby? You know you know I like to dance Maybe we'll be good; we can be good, you and I You can follow me, or if you want to take the lead You know it's obvious we're naturally aligned It's a feeling like a born again teen Got a heartbeat like we're only sixteen It's a feeling like a born again teen Got a heartbeat like we're only sixteen Pull me in a little closer Do you recognize me? I have had my eye on you for quite a while Never seen your moves like this And always such self-confidence I'm thinking how your lips taste next to mine And Michigan my hair is raising Burning from this heat we're making When the beat kicks in, we'll set fire It's a feeling like a born again teen Got a heartbeat like we're only sixteen Could somebody help me, please? I don't think it's just me I'm dying, dying I know it's not just me Could somebody help me, please? I could just die, die Die yeah It's a feeling like a born again teen Got a heartbeat like we're only sixteen It's a feeling like a born again teen Got a heartbeat like we're only sixteen - On the road, like in the beginning, we were listening to NPR in the car all the time, Radiolab and just that was endless. So when we got asked to do some stuff on NPR, that was a dream and it got a lot of attention for us and I don't even know. - Basically we were invited to Solid Sound which was Wilco's Festival in Western Mass and Radiolab was going to be there doing their first live show. They had come to see us and they asked to use one of our songs as part of their promo for their live show that they were going out on tour with. And then from there, Tweedy asked us to collaborate and be on his solo record and it was just an incredible honor and Mavis, Newport Folk always is the place where you're collaborating with everybody and anybody you'd never think of collaborating with and always hoped to and it's just such a special place for that reason alone. We've been gone for such a long time that I'm almost afraid to go home A long road is a long dragged-out imagination where things can go wrong But we keep rolling on I know I'm no doctor but if I was guessing I'd say it was just growing pains And painful as growing is we can't forget it's our ticket to taking the reins And we'll all be okay We'll be okay Dusty trails can lead you to a golden road I've been told Can't remember who it was or all she spoke Will a penny for her thoughts leave me broke 'Cause everyone's around and I'm still alone Everyone's around right now and I'm still alone It's all in the manual that we've been writing A future instructional guide If we skip ahead to our pre-fulfilled dreams We'd be lost without our own advice We'll be alright We'll be alright Dusty trails can lead you to a golden road, I've been told Can't remember who it was or all he spoke Will a penny for his thoughts leave me broke 'Cause everyone's around and I'm still alone Everyone's around right now and I'm still alone I'm halfway to misery Some say when you go halfway there's still plenty of time to return Oh am I halfway to heaven Some may say when you go halfway you only have halfway to go Dusty trails can lead you to a golden road I've been told Can't remember who it was or all he spoke Will a penny for his thoughts leave me broke 'Cause everyone's around and I'm still alone Everyone's around right now and I'm still alone - I think growing up, we both were looking to escape in a certain way, trying to figure out what it was we wanted to be and not exactly fitting in. And I think that our song, it was something that we could always relate to one another about, and I think coming to a show definitely enables that experience for other people. It's fun and energetic and we're hopefully transporting people along with us. I had a dream where You were standing there With a gun up to my head You were asking how it felt, to which I said, "I cannot lie, there is a tingling down my spine." You have revenge, I'll have it too What's mine is yours and yours is mine Then you laughed, you said I was a poet And you loved my use of words We had better get a move on Or they'll find us My heartbeat didn't get a moment It was racing up the hill We could be doomed Time's after us, we're after time Maybe I'll drive myself to madness Spinning in circles Don't have it figured out just yet Maybe I'll drive myself to madness Spinning in circles Don't have it figured out just yet Scene has changed: we're running through the airport Catching escalator rides Down and up again We never find the flight My friend is running in her wedding dress She left her gifts behind I'll never figure out just what we're trying to find I only know time's after us, we're after time Maybe I'll drive myself to madness Spinning in circles Don't have it figured out just yet Maybe I'll drive myself to madness Spinning in circles Don't have it figured out just yet Wake up, it's not real life It's not living, it's not living proof How do I, do I justify staying in between the lines? There's just no good excuse Maybe I'll drive myself to madness Spinning in circles Don't have it figured out just yet Maybe I'll drive myself to madness Spinning in circles Don't have it figured out just yet Maybe I'll drive myself to madness Spinning in circles Don't have it figured out just yet Maybe May, may, maybe - There's so much emotional material in the record, but we also did want to have something that described the good and the bad sides of everything we're writing about and there was sort of that comic relief with the phrase "good grief" that we were looking for when we were deep in the record and we were just thinking, "Oh, shut up already," kind of thing because everything we were writing about was coming from the two years prior when we were on the road and dealing with all those struggles and also all those joyful moments. And so, it seemed kind of like the perfect coin phrase for that. Don't wanna talk to you today Don't wanna play the games you want to play I love you baby but I just don't know What we have What we have to do to change Leaving you has crossed my mind But I'm afraid another heart is hard to find I love you baby but I don't know why Why our love Why it's fallen so behind Find me a mountain Or any grand canyons Just find us an igloo and I'll freeze with you I'll climb any tower Take any grand notion Just find us an ocean to swim into Anyway it we don't find a way I'll have to get over you Remember on our wedding day I went to work after I dropped off my bouquet We should have figured it would be this way Oh our love, it has never had the time Leaving you has crossed my mind But I'm afraid another heart is hard to find I love you but I don't know why Why our love Why it's fallen so behind Find me a mountain Or any grand canyons Just find us an igloo and I'll freeze with you I'll climb any tower Take any grand notion Just find us an ocean to swim into Anyway, if we don't find a way I'll have to get over you Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Find me a mountain Or any grand canyons Just find us an igloo and I'll freeze with you I'll climb any tower Take any grand notion Just find us an ocean to swim into Find me a mountain Or any grand canyons Find us an igloo and I'll freeze with you I'll climb any tower Take any grand notion Just find us an ocean to swim into Anyway if we don't find a way I'll have to get over you Anyway if I don't find a way how will I get over you You You

Artist Bio

When they wrote their self-titled EP, Lucius was living in an old victorian house in Brooklyn's Ditmas Park. They found the place on Craigslist, not knowing it was a recording studio and music school for 60 years prior. There were so many treasures that had been left behind - like the 100 year old Steinway piano that would nurture their writing habits. The four-story musical fortress also housed 8 other musician friends and would soon open their doors to bandmates, Danny Molad, Peter Lalish and later, Andrew Burri.

Holly and Jess have had a relationship filled with coincidences. Their lives are uniquely in sync. "When we were ready to make our record we felt it was imperative that the recording reflect that synergy. None of us were concerned with trying to sound like 'a band', we just wanted to create a unique environment for each song to sit in." Much of their record is about these unique experiences, told from the same perspective, at the same time, with the same sentiment. Two voices as one.

Lucius has been described by the New York Times as having "luscious, luminous, lilting lullabies", by Seventeen Magazine as "alluring and magnetic" and their song "Don't Just Sit There" is currently being played on NPR's All Songs Considered. Their self-titled EP, produced by Tony Berg (Phantom Planet, Aimee Mann, Beck), bandmate, Dan Molad (Elizabeth & The Catapult, Luke Temple/Here We Go Magic) & Steve Wall, is an exciting debut.